iStartLife
by Jason Dickey
Summary: A slightly older Sam, Freddie, and Carly go to college. I'm no good at summaries. This is my first story, read it and review but be kind, my feelings are easily hurt. LOL. Seddie. Rated M to be safe since these characters are now over 21.
1. Chapter 1

The alarm clock beeps and 23 year old Sam Puckett lazily stirs in her bed and reaches over. Stumbling to hit the off button she groans and knocks it off the bedside table. She dozes back to sleep as the beeping becomes duller as the clock is lying upside down on the floor. A minute later, her cell phone vibrates, making a buzzing sound as it shakes against the table. It then rings a familiar ringtone.

"Ohhh. Come on Freddork, just a few more minutes." She says to herself with her face still buried into the pillow.

She sits up and grabs her phone. "Alright, I'm awake."

"You better hurry or you will be late again." Freddie said from the other end.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm on my way." Sam replied as she hung up and got out of bed. "This college thing is so not for me." She said as she went into the bathroom to take a shower.

A lot had been going on in Sam Puckett's life lately that she thought she would never happen. First there was the college thing which she still hadn't figured out how Carly had talked her into that one. And secondly there were the last couple of weeks with Freddie. What had gone down in the last few weeks, both shocked her and put a smile on her face. She, nor anyone else, would have ever dreamed that Sam Puckett and Freddie Benson would be dating. That's right. Dating. Albeit secretly dating because she wasn't ready to tell anyone yet, especially Carly. She remembered how much Carly had freaked out when she first learned about that time when she and Freddie kissed out on the balcony. Carly didn't take it well, and Sam remembered how Freddie and she both promised to never keep any secrets from Carly ever again. But this was different. She just wasn't ready to tell Carly, and she sure wasn't ready to tell her about what happened two nights ago while Carly was at basketball practice.

**2 Nights Ago**

_Is Carly at practice? _Freddie sent to Sam in a text.

_Yea. _Her response came back.

_Still want me to come over? _He replied back.

Sam smiled and typed. _Bring ur butt over here Benson and bring Mama something to eat while you're at it._

20 minutes later, Freddie walked into the dorm room that Sam and Carly shared with one hand behind his back.

"What did you bring me to eat?" Sam asked.

Freddie smiled. "Your favorite." He said before showing her. "A bucket of fried chicken."

"Mama does like fried chicken." She said as she snatched the bucket out of his hands and reached in and pulled out a chicken leg.

"Some of that is for me too, Puckett." Freddie told her.

"Mama doesn't share her meat." She said with a mouth full of chicken. "With too many people, so feel honored, Benson." She added before handing him the leg she just bit off from.

Freddie hesitated but took it anyway and took a bite. "It's good chicken."

They got some drinks and went into Sam's bedroom to have dinner.

After dinner, Freddie helped his little blonde headed demon with one of her online course assignments.

"How are you doing in your classes so far, Freddork?" Sam asked, spinning around in her chair to face him.

A smile came to Freddie's face again. Now whenever Sam called him names like "Freddork", there was something there that wasn't there in the past. A certain tone in her voice that said admiration and love instead of resentment and dislike.

"I'm doing great." He told her.

"Of course you are." Sam said turning back to the computer screen. "Is there any chicken left?"

"No. You ate it all."

"Me!" Sam laughed. "What about you Mr. I ate two legs, two breasts and a thigh?"

"You had more." Freddie said as he reached over and poked her in the ribs.

"Don't poke me, Benson unless you want me all on top of you." She warned him.

"What if I do want you all on top of me?" He asked as he went ahead and poked her in the ribs again.

"That tears it." Sam said as she jumped up out of her chair and tackled Freddie. The two fell down on her bed. And instead of beating Freddie up like the she would have done a year ago even, she kissed him and he kissed her back.

Of course it wasn't there first kiss. There was that one out on the balcony all those years ago, and there were a couple of kisses when they first started "dating" right before they, along with the clueless about their relationship Carly, came down here to start college at The University of Southern California. But this kiss was different, it was passionate and they had all the time in the world. Carly wasn't due back for hours as oppose to when they usually got to kissed when they had to worry about her walking around the corner and seeing them.

This kiss was leading to places. Places neither of them truly expected it would go at least not as fast as it was going. First Sam's shirt was off, and then Freddie's pants were unbuttoned. Then off came Sam's bra, then her pants. Freddie's shirt was next and then his pants. He then took off Sam's panties that read: I HEART BACON on the back of them. They kissed passionately one more time and with Freddie on top of her, they started having sex.

31 minutes later, a sweaty mess, Sam collapses on top of Freddie who was sweating in his own right.

"Wow that was better than foreign bacon." Sam said in between breaths.

"Yeah. It was." Freddie agreed.

"So what happens now?" She asked.

"I'm not sure…wait...you haven't done this before?"

"Uh no, nub. I'm a virgin…well, _was_ a virgin." Sam told him.

"What about when you were dating…"

"Nope."

"Really?" Freddie asked.

"Yeah really. Why is that so hard for you to believe Benson?"

"I just thought that you would have done it before now, that's all."

"Well what about you?" Sam asked.

"I guess not only did we share our first kiss together, but we took each other's virginities as well." Freddie said with sort of a smirk.

"God Freddork, you sound like such a nub when you say it like that." She said as she pinched Freddie's nipple.

"Owww!" He yelled.

"Anyway, I meant what do _WE _do now?"

"We should really tell Carly…."

"No! You remember how she freaked out when she found out that we kissed on your balcony."

"But we promised her not to keep any more secrets."

"I know. I know. I just can't tell her yet." Sam sat up in the bed. "Soon though, I promise."

"Alright we'll tell her when you're ready." Freddie assured her. "Hey, since we both are sweaty, do you want to shower together?"

Sam gave him a "you wish" look before rushing out of the bed. "Race you there, Benson!"

"Oh Sam, no fair."

That was two nights ago and Sam still hadn't decided on when or if she should let Carly know. She thought that maybe she would just tell her that they were dating and see how that went before she mentioned sleeping with Freddie. That would be the safest bet if she was going to tell her anything.

Sam turned the knob in the shower and the water turned off. She stepped out and began drying herself off with a towel. One of the same towels that Carly had bought for them when they became roommates. Sam was glad that Carly had an earlier class this morning because she would probably have told her about Freddie right then and there. "I'm sorry kid, I broke a promise but I'm going to make it right today." Sam said to herself, full of confidence and bravery. She got dressed, grabbed her textbooks and her phone. As she went out the door, she sent Freddie a text message that read: _**B Aware. Telling Carly 2day. Repeat. B AWARE. **_


	2. Chapter 2

Carly Shay just finished her third class for the day and like every Monday; she waited outside on her favorite bench to have lunch with her best friend Sam Puckett. It was usually the first time they got to see each other on Monday since Carly had an early class and Sam's first class wasn't until 9.

She was late as usual, but Sam eventually made her way to Carly's favorite bench. She sat down and look across the table at Carly.

"What's the matter Sam? Why aren't you pulling out a steak or some barbecue chicken out of your backpack?" Carly asked.

"Oh, I'm not hungry." Sam said.

"Okay, tell me what's wrong." Carly said, knowing something was up since Sam wasn't hungry. Sam was and always had been hungry.

"Nothing really is wrong. I just have to tell you something and it's pretty big."

"What is it?"

"Do you remember how Freddie and I promised you that we wouldn't keep secrets from you anymore after you found out that we kissed?"

"Of course." Carly said, still a little hurt.

"Well…the nub and I are sort of….kind of… you might say…dating." Sam told her with hesitation.

"What? Dating? Each other?" Carly asked.

Sam nodded.

"You and Freddie. Freddie and you?"

Sam kept nodding.

"For how long?"

"Since about a week before we left Seattle."

"So for about 4 months? 4 months and you're just telling me now?"

"I know Carls, but I didn't know how to tell you."

"Didn't know how to tell me? Oh okay, how about, _Oh hey Carls, Freddie and I are dating. _Or even, _I'm going out with Freddie, Carls. _ Something like that, Sam."

"It was a little more complicated than that. I knew you would overreact exactly the way you are overreacting right now."

"Hey, I'm not overreacting. I'm down. I'm cool. It's good that you two have each other and have had each other for 4 months without telling your best friend about it." Carly said, in typical Carly speed speak.

"Calm down kiddo."

"I'm calm. I'm perfectly calm. So is there anything else that you and Freddie have neglected to tell me?"

"Well…" Sam started to say.

"Ohmigod!" Carly squeaked. "What is it?"

"The other night when you were at practice. The nub came over with some fried chicken…oh fried chicken."

"Sam!"

Sam took a deep breath. "Freddie and I slept together."

Carly stared at Sam.

"Carls. Say something."

"Oh. I see."

"I only kept that a secret for two days." Sam said, trying to ease the tension.

"I can't believe that you and Freddie slept together!" Carly said rather loudly.

"Whoa. Carls keep it down." Sam pleaded. "Everybody in the state doesn't need to know."

Carly thought for a minute. "Sam I don't know how to handle this right now. I need time to process all of this. I can't believe you didn't tell me sooner."

"We haven't told anyone cupcake."

"Still you could have told me. Your best friend." Carly said.

"You're right. We should have told you."

"Well I have a ton of homework and practice again this evening so it will probably be late again before I get back to the dorm.

"Okay. Lunch here tomorrow then?"

"Sure." Carly said as she got up and flung her backpack over her shoulder. "Tomorrow."

Sam sat there at the table for a couple more minutes before taking out her cell phone and sending Freddie another message. _**I told Carls. Now I'm depressed, going home early.**_

A minute later she got a response. _**Want me to bring some pizza?**_

She typed a response of her own. _**K, but hurry.**_

45 minutes later, Freddie and Sam were in the dorm room eating pizza and talking about Carly. Freddie was sitting on the couch and Sam was lying down with her head in his lap. He played with her long honey blonde locks as she spoke.

"So I think she's going to be all weird about it."

"Maybe you shouldn't have told her."

Sam groaned and sat up on the couch. "That's not helping me."

"Look. Carly is Carly. She's going to be fine once she gets over this whole not telling her for four months thing."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

Sam took what was her fourth slice of pizza. "I hope you're right about this Benson."

"I am." Freddie assured her as he put his arm around her.

"Careful nub, mama's eating." Sam warned him as she took another bite out of her slice.

It had been an up and down four months for Carly Shay. After a year of careful planning and a lot of luck, she, Sam, and Freddie were all three accepted to the University of Southern California and that wasn't easy, especially in Sam's case. But they made it. Then Carly realized just how tough college was that first week. Her classes were a lot more difficult than she thought and of course, Sam was no help. In fact she always seemed to be busy. Freddie too. It wasn't until now that she found out why that was.

So while her two friends were always busy. Carly closed her books one night and went for a walk where she ended up at the gym during basketball tryouts. On a whim, she signed up and discovered that she had some skill. Enough to make the girls team. Despite feeling like she didn't have the time for basketball activities on top of her course load, she also felt better after that tryout. She also felt better after the first practice and the first game. So she stuck with it and was now considered one of the better players on the team, even better than some of the ones who were recruited on scholarships.

Then her boyfriend back in Seattle, Adam, calls her up and breaks up with her. Saying that the long distance relationship turns out isn't for him. She spent all night crying and at her next game she had her best performance scoring 29 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and handing out 11 assists. Carly felt great afterward, especially after she noticed Freddie and Sam in the stands cheering for her.

Freddie and Sam.

That was all that was on her mind at practice. She had a rough practice.

After showering, she sat alone in the locker room remembering all the times that Sam and Freddie were downright hateful to each other and all the times that she had to keep the peace. She snickered a little bit at how all that distain for each other must have been misplaced affection.

"I guess the Seddie fans knew what they were talking about after all." She said to herself. "I should get home and talk to Sam."

Like she told Sam earlier, it was late when she got back home. Almost midnight. But if there was anyone that would still be up this late, it would be Sam so Carly came home and knocked on Sam's bedroom door and opened it slowly.

"Sam?" She asked.

Through the light that came in the door from the hallway, Carly could see that Sam was asleep in her bed alongside Freddie. She quickly closed the door back and walked into the kitchen. From behind her, she heard Sam.

"Carly?"

Carly turned around. "Oh hi Sam, did I wake you?"

Sam sleepily shook her head. "No, I was craving a snack." Sam walked by her and opened the door to the fridge.

"I see that you have a sleepover guest." Carly said.

"Yeah. I guess I do." Sam said as she pulled out some turkey meat. "You want a turkey sandwich?"

"No. I'm good." Carly told her.

"Suit yourself." Sam said as she started making herself a sandwich.


	3. Chapter 3

"Sam, I want to talk about you and Freddie."

"Now?" Sam asked as she squeezed some mustard on her turkey sandwich.

"Yeah."

"Okay, well, what do you want to know?"

"For starters, how did you and very ended up with each other. You guys have fought each other since middle school."

Sam shrugged. "I guess the dork grew on me." She smiled.

Sam walked into living room and Carly followed.

"You guys are really serious, aren't you?" Carly asked as they sat down on the couch.

"I believe we are." Sam told her as she took a bite of her sandwich.

Carly sat Indian style on the couch facing Sam who was showing that turkey sandwich who the boss was.

"Wow. I never would have actually believed that you two would get together. I mean I thought about it before. You know back when the whole Seddie, Creddie thing was going on." Carly said, thinking back.

"The iCarly fans were really passionate about that stuff wouldn't they. Remember webicon that year?" Sam asked.

Carly laughed. "How can I forget? It took Adam forever to forgive me for leaving him there." Carly's smile turned to a frown as she thought about Adam.

"Oh hey, kiddo, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up any Adam memories." Sam said with a mouth full of turkey sandwich.

"No, it's okay." Carly said as she reached up and pulled her hair back out of her eyes. "Truth be told, I knew Adam and I were over long before he called and broke up with me. I saw it coming I guess you could say. It's not that big of a deal."

"Say how was practice?" Sam asked, changing the subject.

"Not that good actually. I was distracted thinking about you and Freddie."

"Carls, we don't want you to feel weird about this." Sam took another bite. "We can cool it, if you want us too."

"No Sam, don't do that. I'm happy for you guys. I'm shocked about it, but so would be a lot of people."

Sam nodded.

"And I'm just upset, or I was upset because you guys didn't tell me. But I'm over that now."

At that moment, Freddie stumbled into the living room, rubbing his eyes. When he saw Carly he put his hands over his nipples as he was just wearing his boxers. "Oh hey, Carly."

Carly giggled. "Hi Freddie."

"So are we all cool now?" He asked.

Carly nodded. "Yeah, congratulations by the way."

"Thanks Carly, I know that I speak for Sam when I say…"

"Oh hush it Benson, don't speak for me when I'm in the same room." Sam told him. She turned back to face Carly. "What the man-dork was going to say is that we are thrilled that we have your blessing."

"That's right." Freddie said, still with his hands over his chest.

"Go back to bed. Mama will be there in a minute." Sam told him as she motioned to her almost finished sandwich.

Freddie wanted to say something back to her but he realized that he was just standing there in his boxers and going back into the bedroom was probably the best idea. "Okay." He smiled sheepishly. "Goodnight Carly."

"Goodnight Freddie." Carly told him as he turned and walked down the hallway to the bedroom. "You guys have a strange relationship." Carly said smiling at Sam.

"I know." Sam replied, smiling too. "That's why I think it may work." She took the last bite of her sandwich.

"I love you Sam." Carly said as she reached over and gave her best friend a hug. "I would have given Freddie a hug too but he was, you know, half naked."

"I'll give him a hug for ya'" Sam said. "I love you too cupcake."

"Sam, I'm really sorry for being all spazzy this afternoon when we talked on the bench."

"It's okay, I understand." Sam told her. "Well I better get back in there. The nub will probably roll out of the bed if I'm not there to stop him."

Carly laughed. "Alright. Still up for lunch tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Of course." Sam stood up and started walking back to her bedroom. "Goodnight kid."

"Good night Sam."

Carly let out a breath as she heard Sam close her bedroom door. It was true, she was happy for her and Freddie but she felt bad for herself. She stood up and walked into her bedroom and closed the door. She sat down at her dresser in front of huge mirror and stared at the reflection.

"Your two best friends have gotten together. And you have not had a date since you left Seattle." Carly said to her reflection. She stared at herself for another few seconds and shook her head and laughed. "Maybe I just need to get laid."

She stood up and undressed for bed. All her least favorite classes were tomorrow so she needed all the sleep she could get.


	4. Chapter 4

Carly sat quickly out of her bed the next morning and looked at her alarm clock which didn't go off like it was supposed to. 7:43am is what it read, leaving her 17 minutes to get ready and get across campus to her Writing 140 class. "Shit." She whispered to herself as she threw the covers off of her and searched for some clean clothes to put on.

She got dressed and grabbed her backpack and a hairbrush as she ran out of the bedroom door. Freddie was awake and in the kitchen fixing breakfast.

"Oh good morning Carly. Shouldn't you..."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm crazy late. I gotta' go. Tell Sam I will see her at lunch. Bye." Carly said, never stopping as she walked out the door.

Freddie just nodded along.

Even though her hair was still a mess when she sat down in her Writing 140 class. She had made it with mere seconds to spare as the professor started class as soon as she sat her backpack down on the floor. She pulled her hair back and put it in a ponytail and cursed herself and her alarm clock quietly again as class started. No makeup and her hair in a ponytail, Carly never felt so ugly but not everyone agreed with that. The guy who sat right behind her was taken with her natural appearance.

"Hey Carly." He whispered.

She looked back quick to see who was talking to her and then just as quickly turned back around. It's the cute guy who sits right behind her. Jason Michaels.

"Hey Jason, what's…what's going on?" She whispered back to him.

"Rough morning?" He smiled.

"You can say that. I overslept."

"Do you want to meet up after class so that we don't have to whisper to each other?" He asked.

"Okay. That sounds okay."

"Good. I'll be out in the hall." He told her.

"Cool." She nervously replied.

Carly thought in her head. _Sure he picks today of all days to talk to me. Just my luck._

Sam woke up that morning to Freddie bringing her breakfast in bed.

"Wake up my little blonde headed demon. It's feeding time." He laughed.

"You better not be kidding Fred-wiener."Sam said without opening her eyes.

"Not kidding. I have a breakfast in bed tray complete with breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, and a Peppy Cola."

Sam sniffed the air and sit up in bed. "Okay. Bring it to mama, Benson."

"Here you go." Freddie said as he sat the tray down across her lap.

Sam started eating immediately.

"If I ate all the time like you did, I would be as big as a house." Freddie said. "I don't see how you do it."

"Duh nub, I run."

That was true. As it turned out, the last couple years at Ridgeway, Sam discovered that she had a knack at Track and Field events. Such a knack that she got offered several college scholarships, including one to USC. If it wasn't for her scholarship, Sam wouldn't be in college. Her grades were never ones that would impress any college but her running seemingly made up for it and here she was at USC with Carly and Freddie.

"Maybe I should join the men's track and field team." Freddie wondered out loud.

Sam laughed. "You know I love you, but you would get killed." She stopped chewing at she realized at what she had just said.

"What did you say?" Freddie asked.

"Uh, I said you would get killed."

"No before that."

"I didn't say anything before that." She avoided.

"Yes you did, you said you loved me."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did." Freddie smiled.

"Okay I did. But if you tell a soul, I will kill you."

"I love you too, Princess Puckett." Freddie said, still smiling from ear to ear.

He leaned in for a kiss.

"I'm not going to kiss you with that dorky smile on your face." She told him.

Freddie quickly leaned in and licked her ear.

"Ohhh Benson, I'm trying to eat here."

Freddie mocked a frown and gave her a puppy dog stare.

She smiled. "That's a little better." She said as she leaned in and kissed him.

After class was over with, Carly waited in the hallway for Jason although she wasn't sure why. She felt like she looked awful and should run and hide instead of waiting to talk to a cute boy. Finally Jason walked out of the classroom and met up with her.

"Sorry about that, I had to ask Professor Ross something."

"It's alright. So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I have to be honest, I use to watch iCarly and I wanted to tell you that I loved you, you made me laugh so hard."

"Oh, well thanks. So where are you from?

"Fresno." He said. "I also wanted to know if we could go out Friday night?"

"Oh." Carly said shocked. "I would love that, but I have a game Friday night."

"That's right. You play for the lady Trojans. That's cool. Hey, would you mind then if I came and cheered you on instead?" He asked.

"Okay sure, I don't see why not?"

"And maybe if you like my cheering, you will let me take you out Saturday night." He said smiling.

"That sounds like a plan. But I must warn you, I judge my cheering sternly." She said, almost regretting it instantly caused it sounded much better in her head.

He laughed. "Then I better do a good job. I gotta run. My next class is in 5 minutes. But I'll see you later okay?"

"Okay." She said as he took off.

Carly leaned against the wall and started daydreaming until she was snapped back to reality.

"Shit, my next class is in 5 minutes!" She ran down the hall and up the stairs to her next class. History 225.

"Do you think Carly will mind if I borrow a pair of her underwear?" Sam asked Freddie as she was looking through her drawer.

"What? Where are your panties?" He asked, knowing how much Sam hated that word.

"Ewww, you know I hate that word."

"And you know that Carly wouldn't like you wearing her underwear. Now get out of her room and wear your own underwear." Freddie told her. "But if you don't have any…you can always go without."

Sam walked into living room. "I'm not going all day without wearing any underwear you nerd." Sam checked her dresser drawers again. "But it looks like I have to."

Freddie's eyebrows rose up. "Really?" He asked.

"And on top of that, I better do laundry this evening too. I will not go two days in commando."

"I only have two classes today. I can do the laundry in between them if you want." Freddie offered.

"Uh, I don't think I want you going through my unmentionables."

"So you will sleep with me, but I can't do your laundry?"

Sam thought about how much she hated doing laundry. "Okay you got a point. Would you please take my clothes and wash them today while I'm at class?" She said in a mock nice tone.

"I can do that." Freddie said as Sam put on a pair of pants. "I'll come back here after my first class, grab your clothes and have then washed and dried before you get back."

"Good. Now get over here and kiss me goodbye." Sam said as she walked out of her bedroom.

He obliged her and they both walked out the door to their respective classes. With Freddie grabbing her butt every time nobody was around them after which Sam would say, "Do that again, and I'll break every bone in your hand." Although she never even tried to break one single bone.


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry that this chapter is short. The next one will be longer I promise. But I feel like this one is a powerful chapter despite it being short. It's more about what Carly is about at USC and how she is going to leave her mark then it is about anything else. I still hope you like it._

At a little pass 1pm, Carly and Sam met up for lunch.

"Jason Michaels asked me out!" Carly said upon seeing Sam.

"Great! Who's that?"

"A hot guy in my writing class."

"He asked you out with you looking at that?" Sam asked.

Carly frowned and touched her hair.

"You should marry him kiddo." Sam said smiling.

They both sat down at the bench and Sam took out her lunch.

"What's wrong with the way I looked?" Carly asked, already knowing that answer.

"You look like you were late this morning. That's all." Sam said biting into a hamburger she bought at the cafeteria.

"I was late."

"Oh." Sam said as she chewed. "So he asked you out? When?"

"Saturday night. He originally asked me out for Friday but I have a game so he is going to come and cheer for me and then we are going out Saturday." Carly explained.

"That sounds exciting. Will the Dork King and I get to meet him Friday at the game?"

"Sure I guess. He'll be there and you guys will be there. I'll introduce you. He said he was a big fan on the show so he probably wants to meet you guys."

Sam smiled. "I'm glad for you Carls. Having a date and all. And I'm sure the Dip Thong is happy for ya' too."

"Where is Freddie anyway? I thought he would be here with you?" Carly asked.

"He's probably doing my laundry right about now." Sam said as she chewed her hamburger.

"Sam! You can't make your boyfriend do your laundry."

"Why? I do stuff for him, you know."

"Ew." Carly said disgusted.

"Not that." Sam told her. "Well, maybe some of that."

"Ew." Carly repeated.

"The point being, we do things for each other and besides, the dish rag wanted to do the laundry. Who am I to deprive him of doing something he wants to do?"

"Whatever floats your boat." Carly responded.

"That's right. Different strokes for different folks."

Carly laughed and started eating her lunch that she also got from the cafeteria.

**Friday evening**

The Lady Trojans were at home in the Galen Center taking on Stanford. Carly's hair was once again up in a ponytail but she always worn it like that during a game. Dressed in her shorts and jersey that read: SHAY 7 on the back. She got up with Sam and Freddie and talked to them until Jason showed up. She introduced him to her friends. Before making her way back to the locking room she had to talk to several other students who wished her and the team good luck.

7pm was tip off time and the Galen Center was packed. All 10,258 seats seemed to be filled, which was a little different from normal. But Stanford was ranked #1 in the nation and many believed that the Lady Trojans had a great chance of an upset and behind that chance was their surprise starting shooting guard who came to USC on an English scholarship. Number 7. Carly Shay.

With her best friends Sam and Freddie, her almost boyfriend, Jason, and seemingly 10,000 others cheering her and the team on. Carly Shay and the Lady Trojans defeated Stanford that evening by the score of 87-70. It wasn't even close. Carly scored a new career high with 31 points, had 11 assists, and pulled down 10 rebounds for her first career triple double.

When the final buzzer sounded, the entire student body stormed the court. In that flood of humanity the first person Carly saw was Jason Michaels. She was so pumped up that she jumped in his arms and raised her arms high in the air. He held on to her and smiled as she celebrated.

"Congratulations." He yelled to her as he put her feet back on the floor. Even though he was right there in front of her, his congratulations was barely audible. Sam jumped on top of her next. At least, Carly thought it was Sam. All she saw was blonde curly hair before falling to the floor.

"Way to go Carls!" She screamed with her voice a little hoarse from yelling the whole game.

"Wow Sam. This feels great. I feel great."

Freddie showed up next and helped them both up off the floor.

"Carly. You were great." He added.

"She was awesome." Jason chimed in after appearing once again out of the mass of people jumping and cheering.

Sam held Carly's arm high as they all jumped and celebrated with the rest of the 10,000 people there.


	6. Chapter 6

When Carly woke up in her bed the next morning, she had one new voicemail. She listened to it, it was from Spencer.

"_Yo kiddo, Socko and I just sooooo happen to catch the Sports Recap a few hours ago. Guess who was on it? Me. No, it was you! It looks like you had the game of your life. My little sister, a basketball star. Who would have thunk it, huh? Hey if that writing thing don't work out, it's good to know that you can probably make it in the WNBA. I'm just thrilled that you don't have to go to law school. Roughest 72 hours of my life let me tell ya'… Shoo. Anywho, congratulations Carly Shay. I'll yell back at you later homes."_

Carly laughed at the message. Typical Spencer. 900 miles away and he could still make her laugh. She got out of bed and walked into the living room where she saw Sam and Freddie goofing around in the kitchen, trying to make breakfast.

"Hey Carls." Sam said. "We're making breakfast. What would you like?"

"Bacon and scrambled eggs please." She said, joining them in the kitchen.

"Coming right up." Freddie told her.

"So your big date is this evening. Do you know where he's taking you yet?" Sam asked.

"Not a clue."

"I bet it will be some place secluded and romantic where he will want to love up the star of the Lady Trojans." Freddie said in a playful tone.

"Shut up." Carly said. "Seriously you think he will?" She added almost immediately.

Sam smiled and looked at Freddie and then they both looked at Carly and nodded.

"I need to look extra special hot then." Carly said, trying to think of what to wear.

"I think you should just go in sweatpants and a sweatshirt with your hair up in a pony tail and no makeup on whatsoever." Sam said.

"What?"

"I'm serious. You said he asked you out on a day where you didn't doll yourself up. Maybe he likes the all natural you."

"I may be able to get on board with the no makeup, but my hair has to be perfect and I'm not wearing sweats on a date…even if he thinks that's sexy."

Sam shrugged. "It's up to you."

Freddie slid a plate toward Carly on the counter. "Here's your scrambled eggs and bacon. I would eat the bacon first. You know how much this one loves bacon." He said as he smacked Sam on the rear end.

"I'll get you back for that later." Sam said to him. "But you're right. Mama does love bacon." She added as she shoved a piece of her own bacon in her mouth.

"Anyway." Carly said. "What are you guys doing today?"

"Fred-wiener and I have decided to fly up to Seattle and shock his Crazy mom by telling her that we are dating." Sam said with bacon in her mouth.

"Give her a heart attack would be more adequate." Freddie said as he sat down at the counter with a plate in front of him.

"I told you she won't have a heart attack." Sam said, still eating.

"I'm not so sure."

"Do you want to tell her or not?" Sam asked.

"We should tell her. But damn, it's going to be rough."

"Just let mama handle it okay nub? I'll break it to her real gentle like." Sam told him.

Freddie got a not so sure look on his face.

"Trust me." She reiterated.

"When are you guys leaving?"

"Right after we are done here." Sam said.

"And when are you getting back?"

"Late tomorrow night."

"Good luck with Mrs. Benson."

"It all will be good." Sam said as she ate the last of her bacon. "Mmmm, just like this bacon." She rubbed her stomach.

"Are you all packed Sam, honey?" Freddie asked.

"Yes dear, I packed my one suitcase this morning." Sam replied.

"Just checking."

Carly laughed. "It's so funny hearing you guys say _honey _and _dear _to each other."

Sam then leaned into Freddie's arms and gave him a long passionate kiss.

"How weird was that?" Sam asked afterwards.

"Weird." Carly said. "And gross. Don't ever do it again when I can see you and especially don't do it while I'm _EATING_ Sam." She teasingly smiled.

Sam and Freddie laughed and then Sam reached over and grabbed Freddie's nipple through his shirt and gave it a twist.

"OWWWWW!"

"That was for smacking my ass earlier dweeb without my permission, I warned you about that a couple of days ago."

Carly ate and then watch her two best friends leave for Seattle. "Tell Spencer I'll be in after the semester is over with."

Sam and Freddie each said "Alright." And went out the door. "See ya' later." Sam said.

"Bye." Carly replied as the door closed.

Now she was all alone. She went and picked her phone up and texted Jason. **R we still on for tonight at 8?**

**You bet. I'll pick you up at your place. Wear something fancy. We are going to a fine dining restaurant. **Was his response.

"I'm definitely not going to wear sweats to a fancy restaurant." She said to herself.

Even though she showered after the game last night, Carly went and took another shower before she started picking out what she was going to wear. She had this perfect black dress in mind that she bought recently. It would turn a lot of heads.

After showering, she walked into her bedroom and opened the closet. The dress wasn't there. She looked through the clothes hanging on the rack. No little black dress.

"Where is my…" Carly groaned. "Sam!"

As she and Freddie were walking into LAX, Sam's phone rang. "It's Carls." Sam told Freddie.

"Hi Carls. What's up?" She said as she put the phone up to her ear.

"What's up?" Carly said. "You know what's up. You packed my little black dress, didn't you?"

Sam laughed nervously. "Yeah I may have gone into your room this morning when you were still asleep and… did that." She didn't want Freddie to know about the dress. Sam was going to surprise him later.

"You could have asked me." Carly scolded.

"I know, and I was going to. But Freddie came over before I had the chance to ask you and I already had it packed so…" Sam whispered.

"You're going to wear it for Freddie aren't you?" Carly realized.

Sam once again laughed nervously. "Yeah."

"Ew. Just make sure you have it off before you two do it, okay?"

"Carls. I promise. Gotta' go, we are getting ready to board the plane." Sam lied as she quickly hung up.

"What was that all about?" Freddie asked. He had been mostly distracting trying to find their flight on the departure board.

"Carly just wanted to check on something."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's good. No worries." Sam assured him.

Carly stood there with her phone in her hand, looking at the remainder of her clothes, trying to find a suitable replacement. She ended up on deciding to wear a silver dress that she got several months ago in Seattle. She hoped it would still fit right. She quickly tried it on and it was a little looser than the last time she wore it. She thought that running up and down a basketball court was good exercise. She checked herself out in the mirror and decided to go with it. She took a deep breath, "Now, what shoes to wear?"

Sam and Freddie were in the air on their way to Seattle. Freddie had the window seat so Sam was leaning over him looking out the window.

"Sam?" Freddie said. "Sam, your elbow is hurting my crotch."

"Oh right. Sorry." Sam said as she sat back in her seat.

Freddie adjusted himself.

"Ohhh did I hurt the little Benson?" Sam whispered.

"No. He's fine. I'm fine."

Sam smirked. "You sure? Because you can probably go into the bathroom and make sure."

"I don't have to go to the bathroom."

"Well, I'm going." Sam said standing up.

"So?" Freddie asked.

Sam groaned and leaned in and whispered into Freddie's ear. "I'm going to the bathroom and I'm just saying that's where I will be." She stood up and looked at him, raised her eyebrows, and headed back to the bathroom.

Freddie sat there for a moment. "She doesn't mean…? What if she does?" He pondered those two thoughts for about another minute before getting up and walking back to the bathroom. He knocked on the door and Sam opened it up quickly, grabbed him and pulled him in with her and closed the door back in about the amount of time that it takes a person to blink.


	7. Chapter 7

_Of course I don't own iCarly or its characters; I just like to borrow them to play with._

With the excitement of yesterday's game and the fact that she didn't sleep all the best last night, Carly thought she would take a nap before she started getting ready. Jason wouldn't be by to pick up until 8 so she had plenty of time to get a couple restful hours of sleep in and still have plenty of time to get ready.

When she woke up, she felt much better. Until she looked at her clock. 7:13pm. "Damn it." She said as she rushed out of the bed and into the bathroom in just her bra and panties. She then ran back out of the bathroom and grabbed the silver dress that she lay out on the back of the chair and took it with her into the bathroom.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." She repeating said as she brushed her teeth in a hurry. She plugged her straightener in as she rinsed out her mouth. She brushed her hair as her straightener heated up. It was 7:30 before she started with her hair and she still had makeup and had to get dressed. "Oh, I hope he is running a little late." She said to herself in the mirror as she put the straightener to her hair.

_Seattle. A couple of hours earlier._

After their flight landed, Sam and Freddie took a taxi to Bushwell Plaza. They got out and they both looked up at the building that they hadn't seen in a little over 4 months.

"Are you ready for this, Fred-dweeb?"

Freddy let out a breath. "As ready as I will ever be."

They both picked up their one suitcase and walked into the lobby. Lewbert was asleep behind his desk, leaned back in his chair with his feet up on his desk. Sam resisted the urge to mess with him as she and Freddie walked down the hall to the elevators.

Getting out of the elevator and walking around the corner to apartment 8D, they both had worrisome but determined look on their faces. Freddie knocked on the door. "It's me, Mom."

Sam snickered as they could hear Mrs. Benson typing in that crazy long security code that unlocked the door. The door finally opened. "Hi Mom." Freddie said as she grabbed him and hugged him like a crazy mom hugs her son.

"Freddie, this is a surprise. You said you wouldn't be back until the semester was over." Marissa said. "Oh, hi Sam." She said, just noticing her standing there. "What brings you back?"

"Mom, we have something to tell you." Freddie said to her.

Marissa looked confused as Freddie stumbled to tell her. He turned to Sam. "Sam you said you would tell her."

Mrs. Benson turned to Sam.

"Your son and I are knocking boots." Sam blurted out.

At that very second, Marissa Benson fainted.

Sam and Freddie looked at each other.

"See? I told you she wouldn't have a heart attack. She just fainted." Sam said calmly.

"That was not _gentle-like_, Sam." Freddie said as he bent down to check on his mother.

Sam shrugged.

When Marissa regained consciousness, she saw Freddie and Sam looking down at her.

"Mom. Are you alright?" Freddie asked.

"Yeah, are you alright, Mom?" Sam asked.

"Freddie? Is it true? Are you and… Sam together?"

"Yeah, it's true Mom."

"Oh. Well. That's good. That's great." She said as she got back to her feet. "It's unexpected news, but great news all in the same."

"We're happy that you are cool with it." Freddie said to her, knowing that she really hadn't accepted it.

Marissa continued to smile. "So how long are you two in for?"

"Just until tomorrow. We wanted to come here together and tell you the news in person." Freddie told her.

"That's nice."

"What have you got to eat in here, Mom? I didn't eat anything the whole two hours on the plane." Sam said as she made her way toward the kitchen.

Marissa started to say something to her son while Sam was in the kitchen but Freddie stopped her.

"Mom, Sam and I have been together since before we left Seattle 4 months ago. I'm in love with her. Please. Be nice."

Freddie's mom gave him a slight frown that turned into a little bit of a smile.

"You're in love?" She asked.

"Yeah and she loves me too. I know how hard that can be to believe. But Mom, it is true."

She gave him another hug. "My Freddie's in love. And with Samantha Puckett nonetheless."

Just then Sam walked by. "Call me Sam, Momma Benson. There is nothing any good here to eat. I'm going across the hall to say hey to Spencer and see what is in his fridge."

"Wait up. I'll come with you." Freddie told her as she headed out the door. "We'll be back." He told his mother.

Sam knocked on the door. "Yo Spencer. Open up!" She yelled.

Spencer opened the door to see Sam and Freddie standing in front of him.

"Hey kids! What brings you here? Come in, come in."

"We flew in to tell my mom something." Freddie said.

"You can tell him, Sir Nub-A-Lot. Carly may have already anyway." Sam said. "What have you got to eat, I'm starving." She added as she went for the fridge.

"Uh, tell me what?" Spencer asked.

"Sam and I are dating."

"Reeeeeeaaaalllllyyyy." Spencer said. "Carly never mentioned that."

"Well she just found out a couple of days ago herself, so she probably hasn't had the chance to tell you." Freddie said. "By the way, she told us to tell you that she will be up when the semester is over with."

"So is that what you told your mom?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah."

"How did she take it?" Spencer asked.

"The crazy lady fainted right there in the doorway." Sam said as she walked out of the kitchen with a sandwich.

Spencer started to laugh but stop. "Wait is she alright?"

"She's fine." Freddie told him.

Spencer laughed. "I bet it was quite the shock."

_**Back at USC, 7:52pm**_

Carly was just finishing putting on lipstick when she heard a knock at the door.

"He's early." She mouthed to herself.

She was almost ready. All she needed was to put on her shoes. She jogged to the door, stopping only to slip on one shoe and then the other. "Coming!" She yelled.

When she opened the door, she was surprised at who was standing in front of her.

"Oh my God. Adam? What are you doing here?"


	8. Chapter 8

"I had to come and see you Carly." Adam told her. "After seeing you on TV last night, I just had to come and see you." He walked in, uninvited.

"Adam. I have a date tonight and he is going to be here any second. You have to leave."

"I came all the way down here to tell you something, so please let me tell you and then I will go." Adam pleaded.

Carly crossed her arms against her chest."Hurry up."

"Listen Carly, I am so sorry for breaking up with you. I never should have done it. It's just you were here and I was there and I just couldn't handle it and I snapped. But now I've had time to think about things and I want you back Carly, I do. I miss you like crazy and I love you babe."

"Now is not the time for this Adam." Carly told him.

"I can't help it."

It was clear that Adam was distraught. He was acting nervous, he was sweaty, and he was jumpy. Carly noticed that his pupils were also dilated.

"Jesus, Adam. Are you high right now?" She asked.

"What? No, no, no, no. Nothing like that."

"You need to leave right now." She said, pointing back at the door but keeping her eyes on Adam.

"Carly if you would just…" He started to say as he walked closer to her.

Just then a voice came from behind Carly. "I believe I heard the lady ask you to leave."

Carly turned around and saw Jason standing in the doorway. Adam saw him too. Both of them had different reactions on their faces. Carly smiled and Adam groaned and lowered his head. He stumbled past Carly as he made his way to the door and Jason. Jason stepped aside and let him through. Adam mumbled something as he went down the hallway and disappeared around a corner.

"Who was that guy?" Jason asked.

"That was Adam, my ex boyfriend from back home."

"He came from Seattle to harass you?"

"Apparently."

"Well he's gone now. You still want to go out?"

"Yeah. I'm not going to let him ruin my evening. Let's go." Carly said, grabbing her purse.

"My kind of girl." Jason commented.

Carly smiled. "Good to hear."

Jason took Carly to The Raymond on Fair Oaks Avenue which was a classy place like Jason said it would be. It was small, romantic and intimate. It was actually the first nice place she had been to since she had been in California. They had a great dinner. Then they caught a play at the Boston Court.

About a third of the way through the play, Carly's phone vibrated. She looked at the number calling her and it said: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Her eyebrows winkled as she tried to figure out why the sheriff's department was calling her. She excused herself out to the hall.

"Hello?"

"Is this Carly Shay?" A woman asked.

"Yes."

"Carly, I'm Officer Rose with the Sheriff's Department. The reason why I'm calling you is because we picked up someone near the USC campus an hour ago. He says that you are the only person in the area that he knows."

"Oh shit. It's Adam isn't it?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am." Officer Rose replied. "He was under the influence of a narcotic."

"I knew he was high when I saw him earlier." Carly said more or less to herself.

"Ms. Shay as it turns out Adam has a prescription for Percocet and the once the arresting officer found this out, he took Adam to CHMC because the officer believed that Adam had overdosed."

"Is he alright?" Carly asked.

"After giving the officer your name and phone number in the hospital. Adam slipped into a coma." Officer Rose stated.

"What can I do?"

"We thought you may wanted to know what happened and where he was at in case you wanted to go and see him,, ma'am."

"Alright, alright. Well, I'm on my way." Carly stuttered and hung up her phone.

Adam was on Percocet? That was news to Carly. When she left for Los Angeles, he was fine and never mentioned anything to her over the phone or in his emails. It must have happened after they broke up.

Carly went back into the theater and whispered to Jason. "Look, Adam overdosed on Percocet and the cops think it's a good idea for me to go to the hospital so I have to go. I had a great time, I'm so sorry about this."

"Let me drive you." Jason said starting to get up.

"No. No, you don't have to do that. This is something I should do on my own. I can get a cab to the hospital."

"Are you sure?" Jason asked.

"Yeah." Carly nodded. "I'll call you when I get back home."

With that, she left.

**Seattle**

Sam stood in front of Carly's makeup mirror, looking at herself carefully. She was wearing the little black dress. She and Freddie had made plans to visit Sam's favorite dance club in Seattle, The Last Supper Club, and while Freddie was across the hall getting set to head out, Sam went into Carly's old room to do the same. While she had worn dresses before, she never really felt like herself in them, although this particular short black one did show off her legs pretty good she thought.

"You better appreciate this, dork." Sam said.

She slipped on a pair of black heels that she also took out of Carly's closet at USC that she must not have noticed. It wouldn't have been easy to notice a pair missing, Carly had a million shoes. In fact, when Sam needed a pair for some sort of occasion that required anything other than sneakers, she looked through Carly's. Carly never seemed to mind.

When she came down the stairs into the living room, Freddie was already ready and back and talking to Spencer. Both of them turned to see her.

"Whoa Sam. You look awesome!" Spencer told her.

Sam looked at Freddie who looked speechless with his mouth opened.

"Well Fredd-iffer. What do you think?" She asked.

Freddie closed his mouth and cleared his throat. "Mama looks hot." He said with a smile.

"Yeah mama does." Sam agreed with the same smile. She then commented on Freddie as she picked up a baseball bat that Spencer had leaning against the stairs. "I may have to borrow this to help keep the ladies away from my dork."

"You don't have to bring the bat, I am all yours." Freddie assured her.

"You're right, I won't need the bat. I'll be able to take them without it." She sat the bat back down and walked next to Freddie.

"Wait let me get a picture!" Spencer yelled as he reached for his camera.

Sam and Freddie reached around one another in a hug as Spencer snapped a picture of them. He looked at the image on the back of the camera.

"I never would have ever thought that you guys would be like this." Spencer commented.

"We get that a lot don't we, dip thong?" Sam asked.

Freddie shook his head. "Yeah. From the three people who now know, they all have said that."

"We'll see ya' Spencer." Sam said as they headed for the door.

"See you kids later."

Freddie's mom was waiting out in the hall with a camera in her hands as well but with an unsure look on her face.

"Yes mom you can take a picture." Freddie said as he pulled Sam close.

Sam quickly kissed Freddie on the corner of the lips as Marissa snapped her picture. Marissa looked at the picture in the camera. "Oh, that's…sweet." She said, still a little bit shocked at their relationship. She resisted the urge to go get a can of disinfectant and spray Freddie. Since he went off to college, she had to calm down and now she was a little bit more normal. Freddie was no longer a boy, he was a man. She had done her job. A sad smile came to her face.

"Don't worry Mom." Sam said. "I'll take good care of him."

"I know Sam." Marissa said before she reached out and hugged both of them together. "So I'll see you guys again in May?"

"Yeah mom." Freddie said.

"That's when the semester is over." Sam added.

"Okay. Go on. Get going. Have fun." Marissa told them as she broke the hug.

"Alright mom. See you later." Freddie said as they walked off.

"Your mom almost seemed normal. I mean I half expected her to spray you after I kissed you." Sam said as they got in the elevator to leave.

Freddie took Sam's hand and smiled at her. "Me too."


	9. Chapter 9

**Los Angeles**

When walking into the California Hospital Medical Center, Carly wished that she would have went by the dorm and changed. It seemed like everyone was looking at this brunette in the silver dress. She felt out of place.

After inquiring what room Adam was in, Carly made her way to Room 233. There was a police officer there who introduced herself as Officer Cameron.

"I'm Officer Cameron, you're Carly Shay right?"

"Yeah." Carly responded.

"I thought so. I caught iCarly a couple of times as a teenager."

"It's always nice to meet a fan." Carly said although it would have been nicer not to meet this one in a hospital room with her ex boyfriend in the bed with all kinds of wires hooked to him.

"Listen if you know how to get a hold of his parents, or any relatives, you need to call them. The doctors need somebody here that can help them out with decisions and what not." Officer Cameron explained. "Or if you wish, you can give me a number and I will call them." She added, sensing Carly's hesitation.

"I may have his parents number still in my phone." Carly said, trying to think why she hadn't thought to check before she got here. "Yeah I do. But I really don't know what to say to them."

Officer Cameron gave Carly a sad smile. "It's okay, give me the number. I'll call."

Officer Cameron wrote down the number as Carly gave it to her and excused herself and walked out to make the phone call presumably. Carly stood about 5 feet away from Adam, just staring at him, unsure what to do or say. Unsure if he even knew she was there or not. She slowly backed out of the room. When Carly was completely out of the room she watched Adam from behind the glass.

"What have you done to yourself Adam?" She whispered.

"Okay, Miss Shay. I've reached Adam's parents. They are on their way down here. There is nothing more I need from you unless you want to stay, you can go." Officer Cameron told her.

"Did they know why he had a prescription for Percocet?" Carly asked.

"They said he had an accident about two months ago. Busted his shoulder up pretty good."

"Oh."

"Are you staying?"

"No, I think I should go. He doesn't need me here, I'm not sure he even wants me here. He broke up with me and sure, when he came to see me earlier he said he wanted me back but he was high and I don't know if I can handle all of that. I should go, I'm going."

"I can give you a ride if you want." Officer Cameron suggested.

Carly accepted her invitation and caught a ride back to the USC dorms with Officer Cameron.

**Seattle**

Outside of "random dancing" on iCarly, Freddie had never seen Sam dance before, although he did hear Carly say that she was good at it a couple of times. After tonight at The Last Supper Club, Freddie was amazed at his girlfriend's prowess on the dance floor. Seeing how she danced, and seeing how she looked in the process made him fall even more in love with her.

"What's up Benson? You've been quiet for the last 20 minutes." Sam said as they left the club.

"Just thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

"Us." He told her, holding her hand.

"Did you see some of the looks we were getting in there?" Sam laughed. "They looked like they seen a ghost or something." She continued to laugh.

"It is kind of fun." He agreed as they got into a taxi.

"You said your mom works the nightshift nowadays, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, that's why she won't be home when we get back. She works from midnight to 2pm."

"I have to be honest. I don't see how she does it."

"Well, you know my mom. She's weird." Freddie smiled.

"That's for sure." Sam agreed. "So when we get back, what are we going to do?"

"I have a couple of things in mind." He said with that smirk of his.

"Oh really?" Sam replied with a smirk of her own.

**USC **

When Carly woke up the next morning, she still felt indifferent to Adam and his troubles. He was hurt bad in an accident and Carly felt badly about that but he didn't have to overdose on his pain medication and he didn't have to come all the way down here to show up high saying that he wanted her back. She was a little angry about that but she decided to put it out of her mind. Sam and Freddie would be back tonight and tomorrow was Monday which meant more classes, more basketball practice, more games…there was just a lot going on and she didn't need anything else new.

She remembered texting Jason when Officer Cameron dropped her off last night. She lay in bed and talked to him until 2am which helped explain her red puffy eyes this morning. After getting out of bed, she went to the bathroom to wash her face. She had mentioned the whole not needing anything new in her life to Jason last night on the phone and he took it to mean that she didn't want any relationship and she didn't correct him. Maybe she didn't want a relationship. They were a lot of work and took up a lot of time and time was something that Carly did not have a lot of these days.

College life sure was stressful and she wasn't even though her first year yet. All who she had to lean on was Sam and Freddie, and they were dating. Carly didn't want to feel like a third wheel but she had no other options. She decided to focus completely on classes and basketball and of course Sam would be around at least some of the time, she did live here with Carly after all.

"It's going to be fine. I'm going to be fine." She said to herself as she dried her face with a towel.

She went back into her bedroom, grabbed some of her textbooks and started doing some homework.

**LAX**

Freddie and Sam were both smiling from ear to ear when they landed at Los Angeles International Airport later that evening and they had been smiling ever since they woke up that morning in the bedroom that Freddie had spent most of his life in. The two lovers just had the best night of their lives and were now even closer than ever.

Sam was sure to be gentle with Carly's dressed and had it packed safely and securely in her case.

"I wonder why Carls hasn't texted either of us?" Sam wondered out loud.

"Probably busy with that Jason cat." Freddie replied.

"You know Carly wouldn't bang the dude on the first date." Same retorted.

"I don't know. Depends on how long it's been for her, or him for that matter."

Sam looked down at her phone. "I'm sending her one telling her we are back in Los Angeles and on our way back to the dorms." Sam said as pushed the letters on her phone.

A couple of minutes, she got a reply.

**Great! Missed you guys like crazy!**

"Oh I don't think she got any loving." Sam said reading the message. "She said she missed us like crazy. If she got any loving she wouldn't be missing us."

"Poor Carly." Freddie frowned.

"Let's get back and see what went down." Sam said as she whistled for a cab.

When they arrived at the dorm, Carly filled them in on all that happened while they were away. And once Freddie left to go back to his own dorm, Sam filled Carly in on what all happened going to Seattle, while at Seattle, and coming back from Seattle.

"I'm glad that you two are getting it on like rabbits." Carly laughed.

"We're in love." Sam replied.

"Apparently." Carly said, still laughing.

"I have a busy day tomorrow kiddo, I'm hitting the sack." Sam said as she stood up from the couch.

"Okay, I should go to. I hate Mondays."

"You and me both." Sam agreed.


	10. Chapter 10

_Sorry this one is short. I felt the urge to go ahead and post it since it reveals a twist in the plot perhaps. Let me know how you feel about it. Like it, love it; hate it, worried about it?_

_Of course I don't own iCarly or its characters but its fun to borrow them from time to time._

_**One Month Later**_

Carly wasn't there when Adam woke up from his coma, but she was there when he got discharged. She needed some closure and she went to get it. They had a conversation as she walked with him out of the hospital. She was direct, honest, and at times probably brutal. To his credit, Adam understood everything and left for Seattle without arguing.

"That wasn't so bad." Carly told herself as she watched Adam leave.

For the last week, Sam Puckett was hiding a secret. A secret that would more than likely force her out at USC. She sure wouldn't be able to compete in Track and Field and therefore lose her scholarship. She was busy thinking about what to do when she was walking out of the hospital. She didn't see Carly standing on the sidewalk and almost walked right into her.

"Sam?" Carly asked.

"Oh, hi Carls. What are you doing here?" Sam asked.

"Adam was discharged today and I had to talk to him before he left."

"Right. So you told him that you didn't love him anymore?" Sam asked trying to keep the subject on her and Adam.

"Yeah."

"How did he take it?"

"Actually, he took it pretty well." Carly told her.

"Well that's good right?"

"Yeah it is." Carly said. "Sam, what are you doing at the hospital?"

"I wasn't in the hospital. I was walking by the hospital." Sam lied.

"Sam. I saw you come out." Carly told her.

"Oh." Sam said as she lowered her head, avoiding eye contact.

"Is there something wrong with you Sam?"

"You could say that." Sam said, still looking down at the ground.

Carly took a deep breath, fearing the news. "What is it?"

Sam looked up. "It's nothing. I'm just a little, you know, _pregnant."_

Carly's mouth dropped. "Did you say you were...pregnant?"

Sam nodded.

"Oh my God, does Freddy know?"

"No, besides me and the doctors, you're the only one." Sam told her. "And Carls I need for it to stay that way for a little while until I figure out what to do. Do you understand?"

"You have to tell Freddie."

"No. The nub will just tell freak out and start treating me like I'm a child who can't make her own decisions. I love Freddie, but you know how he will be. I will tell him, just not now, ok? Carly promise me you won't say anything to him." Sam pleaded.

"Alright." Carly reluctantly agreed.

"Good." Sam relaxed. "Wanna' get lunch?" She asked.

Carly chuckled. "Sure."

The two best friends went to lunch on that sunny southern California day. They rarely mentioned the pregnancy. Mostly they discussed Carly's basketball career which was beginning to draw tons of national attention. She was already semi popular from iCarly, but her basketball playing was really putting her over. In 18 games with the Lady Trojans, Carly Shay was leading now only the team but the entire WNCAA in scoring with 28.6 points per game, she was second on the team in rebounding with 6.7 a game, and second in assists with 4.9 a game.

Carly talked with Sam that day but secretly worried about her best friend. If she was pregnant, Sam's scholarship could be in jeopardy and if she lost that, Sam would have to drop out. Carly hoped that Sam could figure something out soon, track and field was beginning their season in a couple of weeks and practice was starting even sooner than that.

"Sam. What are you going to do about your scholarship?" Carly asked, no longer able to hold it in.

Sam took a bite of her cheeseburger. "I was thinking about that." She said. "The season starts here in two weeks and is over in May. I think I can go this season. As long as I don't show, and you don't say anything, it should be alright. It's not like I'm boxing or wrestling or something like that."

Carly didn't know what to say. She didn't know if that made any sense or not. She figured Sam was right, it wasn't as dangerous as it could be, but then again, it wasn't as safe as it should be.

"That could be dangerous." Carly told her.

"Maybe. If I was 8 or 9 months along, but I'm only a few weeks, Carls." Sam said noticing the worry in her best friend's face. "Look, at my next appointment I will ask the doctor what he thinks okay and if it's not safe, then I will figure something else out. Maybe I can get redshirted or something."

Carly's mind was put at ease. "Good." Carly watched Sam eat. "I hope your kid likes all the food you like otherwise you could get sick." She said with a teasing smile.

"I hope you're right about that too." Sam said in between bites.


	11. Chapter 11

The next couple of weeks turned February into March and along with it, Carly's schedule became full as the PAC-10 tournament started and the Lady Trojans were a favorite to win since they had won the regular season title outright. Then after the Pac-10 tournament, the WNCAA tournament was to start. Now the men's version got most of the headlines, but the USC Lady Trojans were getting some airtime of their own thanks to their unexpected breakout freshman star that was voted regular season MVP just a few short days ago.

With Carly busy, Sam was left to herself most of the time. What time Freddie wasn't hanging around that is. She still hadn't told him about the pregnancy however and her doctor told her that he would inform her coaches of the pregnancy and typically she wouldn't be allowed to compete, but she still may be able to practice a few things. Once that decision was made, Sam was going to tell Freddie because he would find out anyway if she couldn't compete. He would ask why she couldn't compete and get the answer out of her because that's what he does best.

While waiting on hearing back from her coaches or doctors, Sam woke up one morning that March and was discovered that she was bleeding…bad. When she rushed out of bed, she felt dizzy and she fainted before she could take three steps to get her phone out of her pants pocket that she wore the night before.

When Freddie came over for his typical morning visit, that's how he found Sam. On the floor, unconscious, and her bed sheet had a large bloodstain on it as did the nightshirt she was wearing.

"Sam!" Freddie yelled as he bent down to check on her. He reached for his phone and dialed 911.

Carly, still in her basketball jersey and shorts, and still sweaty from the last PAC 10 tournament game where she scored 30 points and had 13 assists and afterward in the locker room learned that Sam had been in the hospital all morning, rushes into Sam's room where Freddie was sitting by her side, holding her hand.

"She lost a lot of blood. They gave her a transfusion. Now all they said they could do is wait." Freddie said after seeing Carly walk in.

"What happened?" She asked, unsure.

"They said that some fibroids in her uterus caused her to have a miscarriage." He said with his head down next to where he was holding her hand. "I didn't even know she was pregnant."

Carly walked closer and sat down in the chair on the other side of Sam's bed.

"Carly, did you know that she was pregnant?" Freddie asked softly.

"A couple of weeks ago when they released Adam, I ran into Sam as she came out of the hospital. She didn't want to tell me but she finally did." She explained. "She didn't want to tell anybody until she found out how it would affect her scholarship."

"Why didn't she tell me?" Freddie questioned.

"She was going to." Carly assured him. "She just wasn't ready."

"She told you."

"Only because I caught her coming out of the hospital and pressed her on what was going on?"

"She should have told me the very second she found out." Freddie said. "I'm the father…was the father." Tears started coming to his eyes. "And now, look at her. The doctors don't know when she will wake up."

"Freddie, you and I both know that Samantha Puckett is the strongest person either of us knows." Carly said strongly.

"Call me Sam." Sam whispered weakly as she woke up.

Carly and Freddie both look at Sam as she turned her head and opened her eyes. There was sadness in them, implying that Sam knew what had happened.

Seeing Sam was awake, a nurse made her way in and started asking Sam questions.

"Ms. Puckett, do you remember what happened to you?"

"I woke up, there was blood." Sam motioned down to between her legs. "I got up out of bed and must have fainted because the next thing I know, I'm here with these two." Sam said.

"Do you know why you are here?"

"I lost the baby, didn't I?" Sam asked.

The nurse nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Do you know what happened?" Sam asked the nurse.

"We found fibroids on your uterus. They are a form of benign tumors. It's rare but they have been known to cause miscarriages and they will have to be removed before you try and get pregnant again. Have you had any symptoms like heavy or painful periods, abdominal discomfort or bloating, painful defecation, back ache, urinary frequency or retention?"

Sam shook her head no.

The nurse wrote on the chart she held in her hands. "We will have a doctor in here to look at you and if he thinks its okay to operate we will go ahead and remove the fibroids. More than likely it will be a few days to make sure you can handle the operation. One of us will be back later to explain more and answer any questions you may have. For now, you can rest and visit." The nurse said with a sad smile as she walked out of the room.

"Sounds like you are going to be okay." Carly said.

"Yeah I guess." Sam said looking over at Freddie. "I'm sorry." She said to him. "I know I should have told you, I just wasn't sure on how."

"Yes it would have been nice to know, but at least you are going to be okay. I was freaking out when I came into your room this morning and found you. It scared me to death." He kissed her on the forehead.

"I love you Benson." Sam said.

"I love you too, Puckett." Freddie replied.

They both smiled.

"And you." Sam said, turning to Carly. "Did you miss your game?"

"Actually no, Freddie didn't text me until about an hour ago."

He shrugged. "I didn't know what to say and I was waiting until I could come in and see you. I texted her once I knew you were in stable condition."

"Did we win?" Sam asked Carly.

"Pac 10 champs." Carly smiled.

"Go Trojans." Sam said.

_It would seem like the Sam pregnancy thing has been done many times over. Thanks to Absolutego for pointing that out to me, among other things. I was going to go down the road of having Mrs. Benson being a little bit more upset when the kids came home in May and saw that Sam was pregnant and have Carly bring Jason Michaels back with her only to discover that Griffin had dumped his pee wee babies for more manlier things thus having Carly rethink her feelings for him, as it seems in life, sometimes things just happen and I was going for that kind of vibe. Now I may do something different. Thanks for listening, and thanks for reading. Most of you have been kind and understanding thus far._


	12. Chapter 12

The doctor explained to Sam her options and she decided on having a laparoscopic myomectomy since it was the least invasive, most effective, cost efficient option she had. Plus the recovering time was faster than all the other options she had. A few days after the surgery and Sam was back home.

"Man. Hospital food is no good." Sam said heading for the fridge. "This place looks like new." She observed.

Carly had cleaned Sam's bedroom a couple of days ago, getting rid of the sheets and mattress that had blood on it and bringing in a new mattress and putting on new sheets. After doing that, she just started cleaning the whole bedroom, and then the entire dorm room which was more like a small apartment than an actual dorm room.

"Yeah, I cleaned some stuff. Moved some stuff around." Carly said as she walked in the door and sat some Get Well Soon balloons down on the counter.

Freddie came in, carrying grocery bags.

"Should I put this food up or just leave it here on the kitchen counter so you can have faster access to it?" He jokingly asked Sam.

Sam acted like she was thinking about it as she spread some mayo on a piece of bread. "Go ahead and put them away." She grabbed some bacon, and sliced a tomato to complete her BLT. "So, Carly today is your first game in the WNCAA tournament. Are you nervous?" Sam asked as she sat down on the couch and started eating.

"No." Carly said. "But I better be going or I'm going to miss the bus to airport."

"They won't leave without you." Sam said with her mouth full of BLT.

"Yeah. You're like Michael Jordan. Do you think the Bulls ever left Michael Jordan behind?" Freddie asked as he joined Sam on the couch.

"I'm not Michael Jordan." Carly laughed as she went out the door and closed it behind her.

Sam and Freddie sat on the couch and had a nice heart to heart talk while Sam also had a BLT sandwich.

"Do you want me to help you finish getting caught up with your classes?" Freddie asked.

"Sure. There's not much left. You could type this paper for me if you want." Sam said as she reached into her backpack and pulled out a few sheets of paper. "It's my English term paper."

Freddie reached for his laptop and grabbed Sam's paper.

"And thanks. You know. For everything." Sam added.

"You're very welcome."

While she was in the hospital, Freddie never left her side. He got both of their work via the hospital Wi-Fi and emailed each of their professors. They talked about what had happened then, during those long lonely nights with nothing but hospital food and the occasional snack that Carly would sneak in. Freddie wouldn't eat anything that Sam wasn't eating herself. He knew that she would probably attack him like a wild hungry animal if he did.

Those years where they tortured each other seem to be a distant memory, if it were not for the ever so often name calling that they now did in a teasingly loving manner, there would be no memory of those days at all. It was like true love had come to Freddie Benson and Sam Puckett. There was a certain unspoken bond between them that had been forged when they both realized that after spending all those years at each other's throats they were really after each other's hearts instead.

Now with Sam asleep, with her legs laying across his lap. He finished typing her paper for her and closed his laptop which lay across her ankles instead of his lap. He looked up at the clock. It was almost time for the basketball game to come on. Freddie lay his laptop on the table and woke Sam up, as instructed.

"I could go for a bowl of popcorn." Sam said as she woke up.

Freddie reached down to the floor and lifted up a big bowl of popcorn he had made earlier.

"You read mama's mind." She smiled.

"I sure did." He agreed.

They reached into the bowel, had popcorn, and started watching the game.

The Lady Trojans were ranked 1st in their region and playing in Phoenix at the American Airways Center against the 16th ranked South Dakota State Jackrabbits. It was what they call a no contest. The Trojans were just the better team this year and won easily 79-46. Carly scored 28 points and had 10 rebounds in only 28 minutes since the Coach Davis didn't want to risk her starters getting hurt, she pulled them all and got the bench players some playing time in the lopsided victory.

Carly checked her messages when she got back to the hotel. She have several. The ones she was looking for though came from Freddie and Sam.

**Great game, kid. Good luck on the next one. **Sam sent her.

**Awesome showing Shay. Good luck in the rest of the tournament. **Freddie wrote.

The next game for the Lady Trojans would be in two days against either 8th ranked St. Johns or 9th ranked Texas Tech depending on who won between those two tomorrow. For now Carly was happy with the victory and knowing that Sam was okay still. Later that night when she got settled in at the hotel and most of everyone else had gone asleep, she called Sam and talked to her for 2 hours while Sam and Freddie played Monopoly before going to bed. Sam won, of course.

The next day after practice, the Lady Trojans learned that they would face Texas Tech in the second round.

Back at USC, Sam had deemed herself ready to join the Track and Field team. She had already missed the first two practices but she felt ready, willing, and able to do what the school was paying her way to do. Freddie went with her to keep an eye on her. Sam ended up amazing everyone on the team and Freddie and the coaches. She finished all running events in either the top 3 or top 5 times in school history. And on top of that she scored the third longest throw ever in the hammer toss. Sam Puckett was more than determined to show what she could do after missing the first few meetings.

At the end of the day, everything was back on track at USC for Sam Puckett. She had dismiss any concerns with the team, and her classes were all caught up, and she felt great.


	13. Chapter 13

That night Sam and Freddie watched USC take on Texas Tech.

The game did not as easy for USC as the last game did. Texas Tech was a much bigger, tougher team than San Diego State had been and after Carly rolled her ankle early in the second quarter and had to go to the bench. With USC's best player on the bench, Texas Tech made a run and ended up leading at halftime by the score of 49-40.

When Sam and Freddie saw Carly on TV at the start of the third quarter, they could tell by the look on her face that not only was she ready to play, she looked pissed off. Behind some stingy defense, led by 4 steals from Carly herself, USC went on a run of their own to start the third quarter and at the start of the fourth, USC lead by 11 points, 73-62.

Despite missing most of the second quarter, Carly led the team once again in scoring with 25 points. More importantly USC won 93-86. Next up was 4th ranked Xavier in 4 days. This should give Carly's tender ankle enough time to be 100 percent and that was good because Xavier was a dangerous team and perhaps the real first test for Carly and USC in this tournament.

With Carly gone, Freddie felt comfortable hanging around with Sam day and night. It was like they had their own little place and Freddie hardly ever set foot into his own dorm. Maybe he felt like he was getting a taste of the future but Freddie started thinking about said future and about how he wanted it to be a few years from now when college was over with and they were out there in the real world. He saw Sam eating a turkey sandwich in a two story house, he saw himself in that same two story house. He saw a nice car out in the parking lot for him and perhaps a monster truck for Sam. He smiled. "A monster truck is so Sam." He thought.

While Freddie was thinking about the future. Sam was at the track, running. Her mind on mostly what had happened to her. She didn't let anyone know it, but it was bothering her. She didn't understood why it happened. She figured that nobody understood why these things happened and in that sense, she accepted it, but why did it happen to her?

No matter how hard or fast she ran Sam never came to understand. She questioned herself. Was she being punished for something? Did she do something wrong? She stopped to catch her breath. She looked around. It was a Friday morning; most people were in a class. The track was empty, except for Sam and her thoughts. She frowned, took a deep breath, and took off running again. She ran another 5 circuits around the track until she noticed Freddie walking down the bleachers. She stopped to rest, mildly irritated that Freddie was about to see her in the sweaty mess that she was in from running for the last two hours.

"What are you doing here, Fred-head?" She asked as he approached her.

"I thought I would come and check out how your work out was going." He told her as he stared at her.

"Why are you staring at me?" She asked.

"You look good. I've never seen you in your sports bra and a little pair of running shorts before." He said, looking her up and down.

"Careful Benson. We don't need to be kicked off of campus by getting caught out here doing it."

"I know. I was just saying that I like that look." He said.

He kept looking at her.

"Stop it." Sam laughed.

"Okay. I forgot that I also came out here to ask you something. Carly's next game is tomorrow and I thought that since it's a Saturday and all, we could go and surprise her and watch the game in person."

"Drive there?" Sam asked.

"Sure. Why not? It's only about a 6 hour drive. We can leave tonight and be there in the morning."

"It would be nice to see Carly in person instead of on television. Plus, I've never been to Phoenix. Okay, sounds good. Let's do it."

"Great. I've got a class right now, but afterwards I will get us set to leave and you don't have to worry about anything except being trapped in a car with me for six hours." He said as she gave her a sly look.

"Get to class." Sam gave him a quick kiss, smiled, and took off running again.

"I'll see you in a little bit." He yelled to her.

Sam ran for around the track for another half an hour before jogging back to her dorm building. She went into her and Carly's room and headed for the shower. Thanks to Freddie, her mind had drifted the last 30 minutes from questioning the miscarriage to this nearly 600 mile trip to Phoenix that they were about to embark upon. As she shampooed her hair, she thought about the look in Freddie's eyes as he stared at her out there on the track. The nub really did love her if he thought she looked good out there. Her knees ached and the muscles in her legs did as well as she showered. She groaned in pain. "Maybe I over did it a bit." The warm water was a welcome relief to her body. She leaned back against the wall and stretched out her arms and legs the best she could in the shower. "Oh, that feels goooood." She said to herself.

She rinsed her hair and soaped her body down one more time. She rinsed off and turned off the shower. She stepped out and wrapped a towel around her body. After wiping the steam off the mirror, she smelled food.

She peaked her head out of the bathroom door and saw Freddie in the kitchen, holding up a bag. "Steaks from the cafeteria." He said. "I figured you would be starving."

Sam jogged out of the kitchen still wrapped in the towel and stopped next to Freddie and looked down into the bag and took a better sniff. "Mama likes meat." She said.

Freddie smiled and pulled at the knot in the towel wrapped around Sam's body. She jumped as the towel hit the floor. "Why did you do that for, dork?"

"I didn't mean to." He lied.

"Yeah right." She said, still standing in front of him naked.

"You look gorgeous, it's actually a shame you have to sit on something that pretty." He said, as he looked around at her butt.

"Oh stop it." She said as she picked up the towel and put it back around her body. "I'm going to go and get dressed and then I'm eating these steaks. Put a few on a plate for me and cover them with steak sauce, please. And if you do, I might let you look at my ass again."

Sam went and got dressed and when she came back, Freddie had her dinner waiting on her.

"That's a good Freddie." She said. "I love you Benson."

"Love you too, Puckett." Freddie replied handing her a plate.

They both sat down to eat.

"So when are we leaving exactly?" She asked with a mouthful of steak so it sounded like "Sew wen arr wo weaving eggactwy?"

"After we eat, I can get us packed and then we're ready to go."

Sam nodded.

Two hours later, Sam and Freddie were on the road out of Los Angeles. Bound for Phoenix, Arizona. Freddie was driving his car that he bought when he first got down here. It wasn't exactly new. It was a yellow 1977 Chevy Nova. Sam sat in the passenger side.

"I have to ask. Are you sure that this thing will make it down there and back?" Sam asked.

"Sure. It's a classic." Freddie said.

"Classic hunk of junk" Sam whispered out the window.

"Did you say something?" Freddie asked.

"Nope. Nothing." Sam replied.

Two more hours later, they crossed the state line into Arizona. 20 minutes later, the Nova quit running and came to a sputtering stop on the side of the highway.

"_Sure. It's a classic." _Sam said, mocking Freddie.

"Maybe we are just out of gas." Freddie told. "The gauge hasn't worked in a long time. I knew I should have put gas in it earlier." He got out and opened the trunk. He picked up a gas can, it was empty. He looked at his cell phone. No signal. "Just my luck." He said. He looked around in both directions and decided that since he couldn't remember passing a gas station along the way in a long time, that he should walk forward in the direction they were going, thinking that there had to be a gas station soon.

"My phone has no signal." Sam told him as she got out of the car.

"Yeah, mine doesn't either." Freddie told her. "I'm going to have to walk it."

"I'm coming with you. I don't want to stay out here by myself."

"Alright then. Let's go." Freddie said. "I'm sure it won't be far before we come across a gas station."

Sam snickered. "Not to be a downer or nothing, but you were also sure that the car would make it."

"You got me there I guess."

As the sun began to set, the two of them walked down the highway.


	14. Chapter 14

(_Thanks to all that has commented and added this story and once again I don't own these characters because if I did I would be happy because owning these characters would mean that I know Miranda Cosgrove personally and nothing in this life would make me happier than that.)_

Carly sat on her hotel bed watching some documentary on the TV. She had been trying to call Sam for half an hour. Then she tried calling Freddie. Same thing, it went straight to voicemail. She a left a message for both of them, figuring they had their phones off while they were "together" or something. A little concerned that she couldn't reach her friends, Carly stretched out on the bed and waited for one of them to call her back. She fell asleep sometime around 10.

She woke up at midnight when her phone went off. She looked at who was calling. It was Sam.

"Sam? Where have you guys been? I've tried calling you all evening. You're alright aren't you?" Carly asked.

"Yeah Carls, we're fine. Freddie and I just went out and lost track of time, you know how that happens. We had our phones off because we didn't want to be disturbed." Sam told her.

"Alright. I understand. Where are you? Are you in a car? I can hear music and an engine running."

"Yeah, we are on our way back to the dorm." Sam lied. "We figured we should let you know now how we were instead of waiting until we got back."

"So did anything interesting happen while you were out?" Carly asked.

Sam thought and then said, "You could say that."

"Okay that's all I need to know. I guess you guys will be watching the game tomorrow?"

"We plan to." Sam said. "Are you nervous? The word on campus is that Xavier is a tough team."

"Yeah they're supposed to be. But I believe we can beat them."

"Well we wish you good luck."

"Thanks Sam. I think I better go back to sleep now so I'll be ready to go at the game."

"Alright kiddo. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Sam."

Sam hung up her phone.

"Carls is going to be so surprised when we show up tomorrow." Sam smiled.

"I can't wait to see her face." Freddie added.

"I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when it's my turn to drive." Sam said, laying her seat back.

When it was Sam's turn to drive, Freddie took his nap. And with Sam driving, they arrived in Phoenix 45 minutes faster than they had expected. While Freddie found an ATM machine to get more money, Sam went across the street from the bank to a restaurant to get some breakfast. She hadn't eaten in 4 hours so she was starving.

Sam also texted Carly to see what hotel she was in.

**The Hyatt Regency, why? **Was Carly's response.

After breakfast, Sam and Freddie drove to the Hyatt Regency, walked into the front lobby, and asked for Carly's room number. The woman behind the desk was excited to see Sam and Freddie. She had been a fan of iCarly back in the day and gladly told them what room Carly was in.

They made their way to Carly's room and knocked on the door. They heard Carly yell "Coming!"

"I feel disgusting." Freddie said. "Walking back and from that gas station has made me icky and sticky."

"How do you think I feel? I made the same walk." Sam replied just as Carly opened the door.

"Sam, Freddie, what are you guys doing here?" She asked.

"We came to see your game, kiddo." Sam said, barging in. "Where's the shower?"

Carly looked at Freddie. "We had a long trip." He told her.

Later that evening, Sam and Freddie were in attendance as Xavier went against USC. Despite a career high 42 points and 12 assists from Carly, USC lost a tough and gritty game 88-85. It put an end to what had been a surprising season for the Lady Trojans who weren't even ranked in the preseason polls but ended up being a number one seed in the tournament. So despite just losing, many people believed that it was just the start for them. With Carly's talent, they were able to recruit some players that they were very thrilled with and next year was expected to be an even better year for them. Still, Carly cried during the press conference, and in the locker room, and once again on the way back to the hotel with Sam and Freddie. And then once again when she got a text from Spencer.

When they got back to the room, Carly went and took a shower, a long shower; a really long shower because that's what she does when she is depressed. She takes really long showers.

When she finally came out, Sam and Freddie had decided to take her out to show her that the world had not ended. But Carly had already started feeling better. The long shower gave her time alone to think. She had done great all season, the team had done great. She had no reason to hold her head down. She was proud of herself; it normally would have taken her days to realize that. Her two best friends were there with her, she shouldn't be sad, she should be happy. There were going to be another season of basketball soon enough, for now she had Sam and Freddie and the thought of going back home in less than a two months.

That night Sam, Freddie, and Carly went out and had fun in Phoenix before getting some rest and then heading back to USC the next day. What all that had happened to the three of them since they started college was nothing. Life had just started.

End of Part 1


End file.
